Attorney General Crist backing elected utility regulatory panel

The Associated Press

Published Friday, November 25, 2005

TALLAHASSEE -- The Public Service Commission, which regulates utilities in Florida, would be elected instead of appointed by the governor under a bill that Attorney General Charlie Crist is suggesting legislators pass next year.

Crist, who is also seeking the Republican nomination for governor, called Wednesday for legislation that would have voters elect the five commissioners to four year terms.

Crist, who has fought the PSC over recent increases in phone rates and electric bills, also called for commissioners to be subject to the same ethics laws that govern elected public officials.

The PSC was elected until the late 1970s, when the Legislature made it an appointed body. Lawmakers said when arguing for the switch that the utilities regulated by the PSC dominated the fundraising for commissioners' elections and that voters didn't know much about the candidates or utility regulation.

So far, a bill with Crist's proposal hasn't been filed in the Legislature, but Crist has the backing of several lawmakers who appeared with him at a news conference Wednesday in Hialeah, so one is expected to be filed soon.